Repairs to a quilt

I've been sewing a new backing onto one of my quilts which I made in 2000, and I made this particular quilt in a hurry.  I had just bought an overlocker and wondered if it would be good for quick piecing of strips.
So I made loads of thin strips which I serged together very quickly and because I only had navy blue or white thread on the cones which came with the machine for some reason I chose the navy. Wish I hadn't now but I maybe thought at the time that I would be able to see what I was doing a bit better.

So the quilt has had some very hard wear and loads of washing with strong powder I suspect and the back had started to go into holes. The front had split at many of the seams so I had to decide to use decorative stitches on it just to save it. So it's now a saved 'vintage' quilt but I can tell you it's owner loves it to bits :-)

Close up of the baskets

I made all the flowers myself just using fibre pens and then appliqued them above the baskets. Some of the quilting stitches have come out but they were done using invisible thread so it does not really matter and anyway after so much time, the ghost of the marks still gives clear chevrons on the quilt.

So I have learnt a lot about how they survive and this will help me to improve my techniques. This last photo is the quilt after it's revamp, I hope it gives a few years more service and it may be used as a decorative hanging in future instead of on the bed!

Fleurs d'ete revamp

You may have noticed that I used one of the baskets as my logo for this blog so I have a soft spot for this quilt too and may even make another one like it for myself, if I do I will show you how it works out. By the way the photo was enhanced because the lighting was not good and the quilt was a bit dark, but the enhancement has made it too bright really so its more muted shades than this in the flesh.